SunsetVue
Sign inGet started

Photo locations · Zurich · Switzerland

Albis Hochwacht: sunset photography forecast

The tower on the Albis ridge is the closest thing Zurich has to a proper Alpine outlook. From the top you get Lake Zurich on one side and the Alps running toward the Bernese Oberland on the other. The catch is the roof, which crops the sky — so this is a long-lens location more than a big-sky one.

Will today's sunset be worth it?

Simplified forecast from the open model run. The full forecast — a second model, your exact viewpoint, the hourly cloud timeline — is in the app.

Low cloud is resting on the viewpoint, so you will be inside it.

in 46m

Blocked grey lid

Flat grey light · moody close-ups at best

Little usable cloud structure, or the viewpoint sits inside a uniform lid.

High confidence · event-time scene

Sky colors

Golden hour
Sunset

Light corridor

Viewer's line of sight, tangent to the Earth at your locationNear-ground relative humidity7% cover — too thin to draw as cloud15% cover — too thin to draw as cloud19% cover — too thin to draw as cloudConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 33–100% cover · 10–45% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–45% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 47–100% cover · 10–45% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–45% visual uncertaintylow cloud · 100% reported, 33% resolved on a pressure surface — 67% is somewhere between 0.73 and 3 kmmid cloud · 100% reported, 72% resolved on a pressure surface — 28% is somewhere between 3 and 8 km20 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch orange light · hidden from you by opaque cloud at 5 km50 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch red light · hidden from you by opaque cloud at 20 km100 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch red light100 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch red light · hidden from you by opaque cloud at 20 km

-5 km

Behind you

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 085% · rain 0.7 mm28.4 km

Your location

820 m asl

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 094% · rain 0.8 mm13.3 km

5 km

Nearby

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 087% · rain 0.5 mm25.6 km

20 km

Near horizon

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 089% · rain 0.6 mm23.1 km

50 km

Light path

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 092%18.6 km

100 km

Light path

8/8L 100 · M 100 · H 082%30.8 km

150 km

Far light path

8/8L 100 · M 76 · H 098%1.4 km

200 km

Far light path

7/8L 80 · M 7 · H 088%27.3 km

300 km

Far light path

0/8L 0 · M 0 · H 067%38.9 km

350 km

Far light path

0/8L 0 · M 0 · H 063%40 km
cloud-cover fieldinterpolation uncertaintysun directionnear-ground humiditycloud at unresolved heightmodelled underlightunderlight · height uncertainunderlight · lit on one readinglit but hidden behind nearer cloud

Terrain is drawn for illustration only — it is not used to calculate underlight or obstruction.

Clouds: Cloud canvas mostly unlit

Precipitation is likely nearby (0.8 mm at one or more sample points) — most direct light will be blocked, though a showery sky can still open up.

Very thick mid/high cover (100%) — colour likely only at cloud edges.

Low cloud deck overhead (100%) hides the coloured undersides.

Most clouds above you sit in shadow — their undersides are unlikely to catch colour.

The viewpoint is likely inside low cloud (13.3 km visibility), which hides scene depth.

Cloud cover is nearly solid and uniform across the near scene — a flat lid rather than separated layers.

Cloud occupies two height bands, giving the sky useful layered structure.

Light corridor is blocked

Thick cloud between you and the low sun (95%) — no real golden hour expected.

Sun likely hidden. You're inside the cloud at the viewpoint (13.3 km visibility) — the sun will not be visible from here.

Clarity: Reduced

Forecast refreshed a few hours before sunset.

Know the light
before it happens

€3.33 /month

Billed annually — €39.99

Try 14 days free

Card required, nothing charged for 14 days. Cancel any time in the trial and you pay nothing at all. EU/EEA consumers: see the right-of-withdrawal section in our Terms.

For photographers: shooting Albis Hochwacht

Best months

All year. Winter often gives the cleanest air for the distant Alps, but the approach can be icy.

Suggested focal lengths

100–400 mm for the distant Alpine chain; wider framing is limited by the tower roof

Composition

Work the compression: pick one massif and let the haze layers separate it from the foreground ridges.

Recommended arrival

Allow 30 minutes for the walk plus the 153 steps, then 30 minutes to settle before the light.

Access planning

Car or bus to Albispass, then a 20–30 minute walk through forest, then the tower stairs.

Parking: Albispass parking, then a signed forest path

Approach: 20–30 minutes on foot, plus a 153-step tower climb

Other photo locations